Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to lift the asset freeze on Court Square Towers after its new owners — J5 Towers LLC — defaulted on payments.
Court Square Tower is one of the assets seized by the federal government after J5 owner Jabari Edwards and president Antwann Richardson were indicted for misusing more than $2 million in Paycheck Protection Plan and Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program loans. Those programs were intended to help maintain employment rates and assist businesses recovering from hardships as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As part of the federal indictment, bank accounts with Cadence Bank and Bank of Vernon connected to Edwards’ companies were frozen.
Real property, including Court Square Tower and other real estate, was also frozen pending trial. If Edwards and Richardson are found guilty, those accounts and properties will be forfeited to the government.
In an unsuccessful motion, filed in October and dismissed in November, to get the asset freeze against Edwards’ businesses lifted, attorney Wilbur Colom argued that the frozen accounts were “impeding their business interests and survival.”
Some of those financial cracks came to light in a motion filed by prosecutors on Jan. 5 in the U.S. Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. The government is asking for the freeze in place against Court Square Tower to be lifted so it can be foreclosed.
Filings with the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office show a company called J5 Towers LLC was created on Jan. 24, 2022, with Shanta Blakney listed as its registered agent and organizer.
The original indictment claims Edwards wrote a $20,000 check to Blakney, with the memo “I love you,” from an Edwards Enterprises bank account, in December 2021.
According to the government’s motion, later that same month J5 Towers LLC contracted to buy Court Square Tower from Colom.
Colom provided owner financing to J5 Tower, and their agreement required the company to make monthly interest payments to him. A final balloon payment of $1.2 million was due on Dec. 31, 2022.
“(Colom) has advised the United States that J5 Towers LLC made only a few months of interest payments during 2022,” the prosecutors write. “As such, (Colom) is owed in excess of $100,000 in past due interest payments and J5 Towers LLC has failed to pay the final balloon payment of $1.2 million.”
Colom, according to the motion, wants to foreclose on the property under the terms of the deed of trust.
The government “does not believe that sufficient equity exists in the property to make the pursuit of forfeiture worthwhile at this time,” according to the motion. “To the extent that the foreclosure of the Court Square Tower property by (Colom) realizes any amount in excess of the amount owed … then the United States reserves its right to pursue forfeiture of that amount as allowed by law.”
BH Properties foreclosures, liens
At least two other properties owned by one of Edwards’ companies have been foreclosed, as well — including lots Edwards touted as part of a revitalization project in his native Sandfield neighborhood.
According to the Mississippi Secretary of State’s website, BH Properties LLC was founded Jan. 15, 2016. Blakney is listed as registered agent, with Richardson listed as manager and Edwards as a member.
Chancery court documents show four lots at the end of College Street, where it intersects with Martin Luther King Jr. Drive at Sandfield Cemetery, were sold after BH Properties defaulted on its debt. The lots were auctioned on the courthouse steps on Dec. 28, where Bank of Vernon bought it for $102,500.
Court filings before that show BH defaulted on a property located at 1306 Sixth Ave. N., which was auctioned on the courthouse steps on Dec. 2. Bank of Vernon bought it for $45,000.
Finally, court documents show that on Dec. 27, Rockwood Property claimed a construction lien in the amount of $38,395 on the single-family dwelling at 2426 College St., which is one of the Sandfield properties bought back by Bank of Vernon on Dec. 28. The company alleges that it was employed as a subcontractor and worked there from Aug. 10 until Dec. 22.
If contractors or suppliers are not paid on a construction project, they can file a construction lien on the property to attempt to recover payment.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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